The semiconductor integrated circuit (IC) industry has experienced rapid growth. Technological advances in IC materials and design have produced generations of ICs where each generation has smaller and more complex circuits than the previous generation. In the course of IC evolution, functional density (i.e., the number of interconnected devices per chip area) has generally increased while geometry size (i.e., the smallest component (or line) that can be created using a fabrication process) has decreased. This scaling down process generally provides benefits by increasing production efficiency and lowering associated costs. Such scaling down has also increased the complexity of processing and manufacturing ICs and, for these advances to be realized, similar developments in IC processing and manufacturing are needed. For example, as technology nodes continue to decrease, lithography methods are implemented to pattern smaller features, such as extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography and/or electron beam (e-beam) lithography methods. EUV and e-beam lithography methods provide improved patterning of small features. However, due to the shorter wavelengths and higher energy of these lithography methods, it has been observed that device damage may occur to the devices being manufactured.
Accordingly, what is needed is a method for manufacturing an integrated circuit device that addresses these issues.